The Texas Rangers are a month in, what do you think?

Remember winning? It was so fun! Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Well guys…April is done for your Texas Rangers.  And judging by the way it ended, May desperately needed to start with an off day.  But despite losing 6 of their last 10 in April, the Rangers still played better than many expected given all of their injuries and flat out bad luck.  So what do ya think?

When this season started, I was trying to be optimistic, but realistic.  After a rough (injury-wise) Spring Training, I predicted a final 2014 record of 85-77.  I thought that seemed reasonable.  I never thought this would be a bad team by any stretch, but I did think the start of the season might be a rough go given the way the spring ended.  The 2013 Texas Rangers finished the season with a 91-72 record and I thought given the circumstances, we might not be as good as that, but we’d be close.

And then a friend said to me, “We finished 91-72 with Tepesch and Grimm starting the year in the rotation!  We can be at least that good again.”

That really did get my hopes up.  And after that stretch mid-month, after the Mariners, White Sox, and 1st Oakland series, the Rangers really looked like they were getting it together.  And then the end of the month happened; and the Rangers finished April only two games over .500.  For perspective, the 2013 Texas Rangers finished April at 17-9.

There are a two important things to consider when thinking about how this April may predict the rest of 2014:

1. First and foremost:  Your Texas Rangers have used the DL 11 times.  ELEVEN. It’s usually fun to lead the Major Leagues in a category.  Sometimes it’s not.  This is one of those times.
2. Prince Fielder is hitting a cool .206.  And by “cool” I don’t mean Miles Davis cool.  More like Mario Mendoza cold.

But not to fear… Jurickson Profar has been cleared for baseball activities says the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  And Colby and Matty have already returned. Reinforcements are here, with more on the way!

Also…how long can Prince keep this up?  He’s a 5-time All-Star for Pete’s sake!

So what does this  mean for the rest of the season?

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

Sorry.  But, the truth is, there are just so many baseball games in a season, you never can tell.  6 months is plenty of time for ups and downs.  But I’m sticking with my 85-77.  I think that’s a good number to represent that feeling between “the sky is falling” and “we’re gonna win the World Series”.  Not that the sky won’t fall or that we won’t win the World Series.  But that’s the feeling at this moment.

What do you think?  Is the middle of April more indicative of who these Texas Rangers are?  Or are they the end of April Rangers?

What’s your record prediction for 2014 based on one month of evidence?

28 down, 134 to go.

Your Texas Rangers are 15-13.